This paper examines the barriers to cooperation among a group of librarians and trustees in the Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS) in New Jersey as the group explored the potential advantages of a cooperative automated circulation system. This network of public libraries shares reciprocal borrowing, direct access to borrowing, and…

This article offers a description of an innovative youth program that embeds learning in a practical setting: a gardening program in which youth plant, harvest, and market their own produce. As an outgrowth of the gardening project, participants also interviewed scientists about their jobs in a way that underscored the practical use of science…

Investigated was the retention of the skills of observation and comparison in junior high school students in a rural junior high school and an urban setting. Data obtained showed a consistently high degree of retention for both skills (although degree of retention was higher for observation than for comparison skills) regardless of treatment…

To examine how skilled and experienced teachers interact with pupils of varying abilities, an observational coding system was developed that focused on reading-oriented and classroom-behavior-oriented interactions. The teacher/child interactions of two experienced teachers who were acknowledged for their success in teaching reading were studied…

A process is outlined for developing an evaluation form that meets the following criteria: is relevant at local, state, and federal levels; short; objective; usable; statistically manageable; analytic; and fiscal. With standards in mind, the next step is to specify the kinds of information needed to meet state and federal requirements. Once the…

The vast bulk of psychosocial research data about the family are derived from two basic sources: self-report, retrospective data obtained by questionnaires or interviews; and direct observations of behavior occurring in a laboratory or treatment setting. Despite an emerging enthusiasm for the notion of studying behavior in its natural environment…

This article consists of general and specific descriptions of seven Computer Assisted Instruction programs currently used by students. The programs are intended primarily for prospective teachers, but students in other areas such as business and the social sciences have also found them to be useful. Two of the programs deal with the structure of…

This paper describes a project to develop an alternate approach to the certification of teachers other than the approval of transcripts submitted by individual candidates or of the programs offered by institutions engaged in teacher preparation. The purpose of the project was to identify a set of "generic competencies" and to validate them in…

To improve the accuracy of the informal reading inventory (IRI), a differential set of criteria is necessary for both word recognition and comprehension scores for different levels and reading conditions. In initial evaluation, word recognition scores should reflect only errors of insertions, omissions, mispronunciations, substitiutions, unkown…

As part of a desegregation plan in Detroit, teachers in recently desegregated schools were involved in an in-service program designed to provide for equal instructional opportunity. One hundred fifty-eight elementary teachers, 99 middle school teachers, and 49 high school teachers in 306 classrooms participated in the program. Teacher -student…

This paper discusses the problems of gathering and analyzing data on classroom behaviors. The difficulties involved in using the common pretest-posttest experimental design are described. To grapple with these problems, a study was conducted on the effect of environmental changes on student behavior, employing a time-series design and time-series…

The computer-assisted teacher training system (CATTS) has been developed to provide a versatile technical system for the real-time collection, feedback, and analysis of observation-coding system data applied to the investigation of interactive behaviors and environments found in teacher behavior research in reading. CATTS technical innovations…

Schooling is always a moral practice. It takes place in specific contexts where social regulation is justified by reference to ethical codes and their specific values. Teachers' work is constituted by these values. Teachers act morally, steering practice in particular directions. The task is, however, never simple. In a context where the…

This paper provides information on the use of referential communication tasks (tasks that structure speaking and listening behaviors so that participants need to interact to achieve accurate comprehension) in evaluating students' comprehension and listening skills. An introduction discusses interactive listening and the referential communication…

This volume, third in a series of seven reporting the design, methodology, and findings of the 4-year National Day Care Home Study (NDCHS) presents descriptive and statistical analyses of data obtained during observations of caregivers and children in family day care homes in three geographical locations (Los Angeles, San Antonio, and…